Lectures and Special Events

As Christians, our learning about God, church and Scripture does not end when the preacher steps out of the pulpit. With this in mind, we are offering a new monthly series, Preacher-Teacher, where theologians from many professional backgrounds will offer a Scripture-based sermon at the 9:00 and 11:15 a.m. services on Sunday morning then offer a lecture about a topic relevant to the life of the church and the world during our formation hour at 10:20 a.m. It is our hope that through this series, you will be moved to carry the Gospel from the church into the classroom and out into the world beyond.

Rector’s Forum: For The City
This Child of Faith: Raising a Spiritual Child in a Secular World

March 31, 2019

The Rev. Dr. Simon Mainwaring speaks with Sophfronia Scott and Tain Gregory, authors of This Child of Faith: Raising a Spiritual Child in a Secular World. Tain is a survivor of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, which began their family’s journey of healing and faith.

Learning Together: Future of Our Block Steering Committee

March 17, 2019

Over the course of 2019, we are engaging in a learning process with the Future of Our Block Committee, as we gather information and insights regarding the many facets of Midtown’s changing landscape and varied needs.

Welcoming the Stranger with Matthew Soerens

January 27, 2019

Matthew Soerens is the U.S. Director of Church Mobilization for World Relief, which is the humanitarian arm of the National Association of Evangelicals. He is also the author of two books, Welcoming the Stranger and Seeking Refuge. During this presentation, he discusses realities of refugees and how churches can respond in accordance with biblical values.

Rector’s Forum: For the City
Preacher-Teacher: Greg Cole

January 20, 2019

The Rev. Dr. Simon Mainwaring speaks with Greg Cole, the Executive Director of Emmaus House in Peoplestown, Atlanta. The work of Emmaus House reminds us of Dr. Martin Luther King’s work in his last years to combat poverty, a facet of our local and national life that still draws us up short in our hopes for God’s kingdom for God’s people on earth.

Rector’s Forum: Threads

Sunday, December 9, 2018
Threads has been clothing children with dignity since it opened in 2004. During this Forum, The Rev. Simon Mainwaring spoke with Lori Guarisco, Threads Coordinator; Bob Miller, former Vestry Senior Warden and member of the team that founded Threads; and Betsey Patino, social worker at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

Parish Forum: Caring for God’s Beloved

Sunday, November 25, 2018
All Saints’ is a community that deeply cares for one another and for the community around us. “Caring for God’s Beloved” was the theme of this forum with Respite Care Atlanta and our own pastoral staff at All Saints’.

Addiction to Hope

Sunday, November 18, 2018According to the Substance Abuse Research Alliance (SARA), Georgia Prevention Project 2017’s White Paper, “the rate of increase in opioid deaths in Georgia was much higher than the rate of increase of opioid deaths in the United States,” making Georgia a high need state. Covenant Community tackles this epidemic head-on by providing high quality services and support to those in need. During this forum, we heard from Johnathan Davis, Executive Director of Covenant Community, men whose lives have been transformed by the organization, and volunteers from our parish.

Rector’s Forum: Veterans Day

Sunday, November 11, 2018
The Rev. Dr. Simon Mainwaring welcomed the Rev. Dr. Donna Mote, Vicar of the Atlanta Airport ministry of the Diocese of Atlanta, to explore the intersection of spirituality and service. An integral part of her ministry involves work with veterans and honoring soldiers who have died by accompanying their remains through the Atlanta Airport. She is also involved with the Episcopal Veterans’ Fellowship.

Preacher-Teacher Lecture Series: The Very Rev. Monica Mainwaring, Vicar of the Church of the Common Ground

Sunday, October 21, 2018
The Rev. Dr. Simon Mainwaring welcomed the Very Rev. Monica Mainwaring, Vicar of the Church of the Common Ground, and Diane Gamble and Waddell Stanley, to discuss the ministry of our diocese among our sisters and brothers who call the streets their home.

Weekend For Peace

September 22-23, 2018
Rev. Dr. Gary Mason, founder and director of Rethinking Conflict, a UK based non-profit social enterprise working in the field of conflict transformation, peace-building and reconciliation, brings decades of experience of peacemaking and reconciliation work, most extensively as one of the faith leaders who worked for decades to foster dialogue and broker peace amid the troubles in Northern Ireland. He is also a visiting professor at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University, helping his students learn how to apply lessons from across the world to their own local contexts for ministry.

Public Lecture: Peace in our City

Saturday, September 22
What are the needs of our city of Atlanta in seeking a peaceable common life?

Guest Preacher: The Rev. Dr. Gary Mason

The Rector’s Forum: Peace for the Future

Sunday, September 23, 2018
A dialogue between Rev. Dr. Mason and a panel of youth, exploring the hopes their generation might have for peace in their time and what matters to them about reconciliation.

Soul[ful] Food: A Dinner Conversation on the Intersection of Food, Cooking, and Spirituality

Thursday, September 20, 2018
Rose Scott, host of WABE’s Closer Look; Deborah VanTrece, Executive Chef and Restaurateur; and The Rev. Kim Jackson, Episcopal priest and urban farmer, invited us to a soulful dinner. Listen in as award-winning journalist Rose Scott facilitates a dialogue with Deborah VanTrece and The Rev. Kim Jackson about food and its relationship to spirituality. Dinner will be catered by Deborah VanTrece, with music by violinist and vocalist LaTonya Peoples.

On Pilgrimage: Phil Cousineau

Sunday, September 16
Phil Cousineau, a noted author whose iconic work, The Art of Pilgrimage: The Seeker’s Guide to Making Travel Sacred, has been an indispensable companion volume to travelers for over 25 years. Cousineau offered his reflections on “Walking in a Sacred Manner: Building the Beloved Community through Pilgrimage and Prayer”.

Voices of Faith: God in the City

2018 Holy Week Lecture Series, March 26-28
God is with us, here, on the streets and in the relationships of our here and now. God is in the city. Yet, as Christians, we are not alone in seeking the divine life within this shared city space of Atlanta. This Holy Week, join us in an exploration of the perspectives of faith communities within the Abrahamic tradition of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. By listening for the insights of those beyond our framework of faith, we might find our own enriched, as we reflect together on the meaning of faith and of being a holy people, set apart to be God’s hands and feet in the world. God is on the move around and about us.

Forced Migration: Christian and Muslim Partnership

Sunday, March 4, 2018
Dr. Abbas Barzegar, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Georgia State University, discussed the current refugee crisis and the Muslim societies who struggle with the long-term health and dignity of communities facing trauma due to forced displacement. He will also examine partnerships between Muslim, Christian and secular organizations which work with these communities. This lecture was organized by Contextual Education students from Candler School of Theology.

Past Lectures

Healing Hearts, Changing Minds: A Conversation with Heval Kelli

January 22, 2017
Heval Kelli and his family were welcomed by All Saints’ in 2001 when they arrived to the US as Syrian refugees. Dr. Kelli is now an Emory Cardiology Fellow who helps the refugee community as a doctor and educational advocate. Come hear Dr. Kelli describe his arrival to the US, his relationship with All Saints’, his path to becoming a doctor, and what we can do to help insure that newly arriving families have the brightest futures possible.

Preacher-Teacher Lecture Series:
The Rev. Bill Harkins

Bill Harkins teaches pastoral theology and counseling in the various graduate programs at Columbia Theological Seminary, and is a Priest Associate at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. Philip. Bill says, “Our lives consist of transitions of all kinds. I enjoy meeting people in the spaces within those transitions.”For more information email Janet Todd at Janet-todd@att.net.

The Rev. Christopher Chase and The Rev. Rebecca Edward are co-founders and co-directors of Braid Mission a start-up ministry in The Episcopal Diocese of California. Braid is a ministry providing support for foster youth with intergenerational teams through with congregations and also those outside of the church. The Rev. Chase left a parish in San Diego where he had served as rector for eight years, to start Braid with his colleague, The Rev. Rebecca Edward. Both will join us during the formation hour to address the topic, “Who knew there were still lost sheep and these are they.”

Prior to his time in San Diego Chris served in East Tennessee as a rector in and a member of the Bishop’s Staff as Canon for Higher Education, restarting three campus ministries in that diocese, and most importantly was Martha Sterne’s best diocesan friend. He has been married to Rebecca Chase for 23 years and they have two children, Sam who is 20 and in college in Boston, and Nick who is a senior in high school in the Bay Area of California.

Is There Anything Left to Sing About?
Hunches, Reflections, and Stories from My So-Called “Golden Years”

March 2014

The Very Rev Harry Pritchett, former Rector of All Saints’, will be the guest speaker for our annual Spring Lecture. Points of discussion will include three of his favorite topics: that rigidity of thought comes out of fear; people matter more than religion; we are all part of one great community.

Deus and Dumbledore: The Christian God and Jesus in Harry Potter

March 2013

From the time the first Harry Potter book hit the shelves, Christians have debated how to interpret the series. This talk will discuss one a subset of that broader issue: Is there something like the Christian God in the Harry Potter series? In order to answer this question, a historical overview of how Christians interpret God’s identity (the Doctrine of God) will be offered alongside a discussion of whether there is a character or a value that reflects the way Christians understand God in the Harry Potter series. In so doing, this talk will hopefully encourage participants not only to draw conclusions about God’s identity within the Harry Potter series but also to help them think critically about how they understand who God is in their own faith lives. This talk is suitable to youth and adults alike and will be interactive throughout.

Anne Emanuel, “Judge Elbert P. Tuttle”

March 2012

Anne S. Emanuel teaches in the areas of Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure, and in the areas of Wills & Trusts and Fiduciary Administration at Georgia State University. She is a graduate of the Emory University College of Law, where she served as Editor in Chief of the Emory Law Review. After graduation, she clerked for Judge Elbert P. Tuttle of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Elbert Tuttle was an All Saints’ parishioner, vestry member, and helped lead All Saints’ into the Civil Rights movement. Her recent book on Judge Tuttle, Elbert Parr Tuttle: Chief Jurist of the Civil Rights Revolution, was released in October.

Jeffrey Small: Who Goes to Heaven?
Perspectives on Eternal Life from the World’s Religions

March 2011

Author and scholar Jeffrey Small presented a lively presentation on the ancient origins of the concept of resurrection as well as comparative views of heaven and eternal life in Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam. Ideas presented: What can we learn from traditions that are different from our own that may enlighten our views on the meaning of salvation? How can we view eternal life not as the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow of our lives but instead find salvation during this life?

Lecture by Peter Hawkins, PhD

March 2010

All Saints’ featured a lecture by renown Dante scholar Peter Hawkins of Yale University. Professor Hawkins’ work has long centered on Dante, most recently in Dante: A Brief History (2006); Dante’s Testaments: Essays on Scriptural Imagination (winner of a 2001 AAR Book Prize); and The Poets’ Dante: Twentieth-Century Reflections, of which he was editor. From 2000 to 2008 he directed the Luce Program in Scripture and Literary Arts at Boston University. He serves on the editorial board of the PMLA and on the selection committee for the Luce Fellows in Theology, and is regional representative for the Conference on Christianity and Literature.

Sacred Shrines: Lecture & Tour of Al-Farooq Masjid

April 2009

Al-Farooq Masjid (the 14th Street Mosque) was established as a religious institution devoted to the service of the international Muslim community of greater Atlanta. On Sunday, April 26 there was a lecture about the history of the community and a tour of their beautiful new facility.

The First Christmas Conference

December 2008

All Saints’ hosted renown Jesus scholars Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan as they help us to explore the nativity story as it is told in Matthew and Luke. Borg and Crossan, who had both visited All Saints’ before as Woodall lecturers, returned to our parish to help us see the story of Christ’s birth with new eyes and help us to answer the question “What does this mean?” both in its original first century context and in the context of our modern world. Based on their new book of the same title, The First Christmas was a conference open to theologians and laity. The Friday night session opened with the Atlanta premier of “Phos Hilaron,” a multi-media performance art production based on The First Christmas and featuring the authors reading from their book. For more information: www.faithandreason.org.